Fun around town, for $10 or less: FRIDAY Bordellos Are Good: Opening reception for “Peep Show,” featuring work from five interdisciplinary artists examining eroticism, set in a space resembling a 19th-century bordello at Airspace (4013 Chestnut), 6-10PM. Free Firk It: Get to the only Friday the Firkinteenth of 2008, featuring 13 or more firkins of cask conditioned ale, at the Grey Lodge Pub (6235 Frankford), 12PM- when the firkins run out. Free + cost of......

Comedian Hal Sparks If you don’t know him from Queer As Folk, you know him from the endless parade of clip shows on VH1… and if you don’t know him from there you don’t have cable, so clearly you need to have something fun to do tonight. Hal Sparks makes with the funny tonight, with Chris Bono and host Pat Barker, at Helium. Oh Hal, we will always fondly remember you belting out “I want......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: Bring a Shovel: James Frey of A Million Little Pieces fame speaks about his “first” novel at the Central Branch of the Free Library (1901 Vine), 7PM. Free Slamming: First Person Story Slams: Secrets at the Gershman Y (401 S Broad), 7PM. $10 Spades: The Spades, Sunday’s Murder, Gene Micofsky, Drop Anchor, and Dinner and a Suit at North Star Bar (2639 Poplar), 8PM. $5 Got a frugal......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: Filthy Liberals: Washington Post political correspondent and NPR commentator E.J. Dionne, Jr. reads from his new book Souled Out, on the history and present of liberalism in America, at the Central Branch of the Free Library (1901 Vine), 7PM. Free Om: Buddhist guided meditation class at the Philadelphia Ethical Society (1906 Rittenhouse Sq), 7PM. Free Get on the Train: Whiskeytrain, Enter the Rooms, Kill the Alarm, and Mercy......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: Sounds Like Diplomacy in Our Office: Author Gregory Levey reads from his memoir Shut Up, I'm Talking: And Other Diplomacy Lessons I Learned in the Israeli Government, detailing his time as a speechwriter for the Israeli delegation to the U.N. and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, at Robin’s Bookstore (108 S 13th), 6PM. Free MadDragon Showcase: Love Like Pi, Univox, Greyhound, and Except After Sea at Upstairs at World......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: We’re Really Not Sure: Tyler grad and art world phenom Trenton Doyle Hancock talks about mounds and vegans at the Institute for Contemporary Art (118 S 36th), 7PM. $6 First Person Salon: First Person Arts hosts another Salon at the Gershman Y (401 South Broad), featuring photographer Christopher Paquette, poet Tamesha Hawkins, Performer Martha Kemper, and musician Matt Davis and his band Aerial Photograph, 7-9PM. $5 Revolting: Colour......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: New Play Reading: Commonwealth Classic Theatre Company stages a reading of company member Paul Parente’s Rage of Achilles at the Philadelphia Art Alliance (251 S 18th), 7PM. Free If You Didn’t Get Enough Baseball This Weekend:The National Constitution Center presents baseball historians discussing the place of the game in American culture at the Kirby Auditorium (525 Arch), 6:30PM. Free Digital Leather: Digital Leather, Faux Slang, El Diablos Blancos,......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: The Place to Be: Roger Mudd discusses the CBS news bureau in the good old days at the Central Branch of the Free Library (1901 Vine), Noon. Free St. George Day: Celebrate the patron saint of England in good fashion at the Grey Lodge Pub (6235 Frankford), all day. Pay as you go Anniversary: Celebrate one year of performances inspired by exhibitions at NEXUS (1400 N American) with......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: Food!: Author Sara Roahen reads from her new book Gumbo Takes: Finding My Place at the New Orleans Table at Café Nola (414 S 2nd), 7PM. Free Water!: "The Ocean and Earth’s Climate," a panel discussion on the history and likely future of the oceans, at the Franklin Institute (222 N 20th), 7-9PM. Free Haters!: Independent Television Service Community Cinema presents A Dream in Doubt, a documentary of......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: Kevin Bacon Not Involved: Screening of Zero Degrees of Separation, which looks at the Israeli/Palestinian conflict through the eyes of young gay couples, at the William Way Community Center (1315 Spruce), 7-9PM. $5 Anarchy in the USA: Cindy Milstein of the Institute for Anarchist Studies talks about the relationship anarchists have with the upcoming presidential election at Wooden Shoe Books (508 S 5th), 7PM. Free (donations appreciated) Doggie!:......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: First Person Salon: How Philly Moves, a multi-disciplinary documentary of dance from photog JJ Tiziou and sculptor James Peniston, and featuring Andrew David Watson, Nicole Bindler, and Miss Koco, at the Gershman Y (401 S Broad), 7PM. $10 Sheets of Sound: Author Francis Davis will read from his biography of John Coltrane, Sheets of Sound, presented by Ars Nova Workshop, at the Kelly Writers House (3805 Locust Walk),......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: Will There Be Role Play?: Original Sin, a lecture by Biblical scholar Elaine Pagels, at Penn’s Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (3260 South), 5PM. Free Show Your Concerns: A panel of political experts respond to current issues facing Philadelphians in a run up to the presidential primary at the Annenberg Center (3680 Walnut), 6:30PM. Free The Ross Brown Project: The Ross Brown Project, Aly Cat & Brother Sister,......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: Mystery Writers, Inc.: Mystery writers George Anastasia, Cordelia F. Biddle, Solomon Jones, William Lashner, and Nancy Martin in a panel discussion presented by the Mystery Writers of America at the Irish Pub (1123 Walnut), 7PM. $10 We Like City Girls: "City Girls, Flappers, and Feminist Film Theory,” a screening of the 1929 People on Sunday followed with a lecture by feminist theorist Laura Mulvey, at the Slought Foundation......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: There Goes That Spielberg Again: “Sharks, Spaceships and Spectacles: The Films of Steven Spielberg,” a presentation by Dr. Lester Friedman, with hors d’oeuvres and drinks, at the Prince Music Theater Independence Black Box (1412 Chestnut), 6PM. $10 As We Look Forward: Author Mitch Nathanson discusses his new book The Fall of the 1977 Phillies: How a Baseball Team's Collapse Sank a City's Spirit at the Penn Bookstore (3601......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: Poemergency: Local poets Frank Sherlock and Paul Siegell read selections from theirs works at Bubble House (3404 Sansom), 8PM. Free Get Your Law on: “Auteurism on Trial: Spielberg and Copyright Law,” a lecture by Penn Professor of Cinema Studies Peter Decherney, at the Free Library of Philadelphia Philadelphia City Institute (1905 Locust), 6PM. Free Jam Wednesdays: Circadian Rhythms, Saudi Arabia, Lexington Down, and The Highball Kids at the......

Today is another irresponsibly light day when it comes to Can't Miss This! fare. It's not that we don't love you, it's just that we are very popular and everyone wants to spend time with us and, some days, it gets out of control. Like today. So, here's the short-and-sweet skinny on what you should do tonight instead of staying home to defragment your hard drive. Nerd. THE LEGACY OF 1808: THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: Combat Footage: “Steven Spielberg, Special Effects, and the War Film,” a workshop examining Spielberg's use of special effects in Empire of the Sun and other works, at Scribe Video Center (4212 Chestnut, 3rd Floor), 6PM. Free (Part of One Film, One Philadelphia) Die Actor Die: Die Actor Die, comedy of many stripes, standup, sketch, and “other silly brick-a-brac” hosted by (Phillyist) Don Montrey at the Khyber (56 S.......

It’s almost that time again folks: Compulsory Love Day is next Thursday, so it’s time to stock up on the champagne, chocolates, and condoms. That is, if you have a partner. If not, tradition dictates you sit at home alone, preferably in a battered bathrobe, and eat a quart of ice cream out of the container. If you’re feeling somewhere in the middle of the champagne/battered bathrobe spectrum, here are some ideas to keep you......

We're kicking off a new regular feature today, and here it is! "Can't Miss This!" should be going up every weekday for the foreseeable future and, as you may have already guessed, it'll feature a handful of events going on that day in and around the city that we think are so cool you should make sure not to miss them. Hope you enjoy it! Monday is a difficult day for most people. Also, the......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: If the Opera’s Not Your Thing: Cyrano de Bergerac with Gerard Depardieu at the Bryn Mawr Film Institute (824 W. Lancaster Ave), 7PM. $9.25 Jeff Kessler: Jeff Kessler, Kyle Herring, and Sarah Marie White at Upstairs at World Cafe Live (3025 Walnut), 7PM. $8 Feel Bad About Your Shoes: Fashion’s Environmental Footprint, a talk about the real cost of cheap clothing by Heather Iwanow at Ruth Auditorium/Nesbitt Hall......

To say we like puppets is probably an understatement. What’s there not to like about talking pieces of wood? Or, for that matter, watching humans channel their emotions and desires through a manipulate-able avatar? Twilight Zone aside, it sounds like a surefire recipe for fun. The Institute for Contemporary Art obviously agrees: their new exhibit The Puppet Show, which looks at the imagery of puppets in contemporary art, opens tonight at ICA’s Winter Opening Reception......